The process of veiling a long steel pipe to resemble a tree trunk starts with a slathering of epoxy. A durable adhesive, epoxy flexes with steel in cold and hot temperatures, contracting and expanding, respectively. Larson usually mixes its proprietary epoxy in barrel drums with a brown base color. After workers apply a thick layer to the steel "trunk," they begin what's typically referred to as "texturing." Using pads the size of placemats that are textured with deep, haphazard grooves, they imprint these mats against the epoxy. Each stamp leaves ridges that mimic tree bark markings, and the pads are dunked in buckets of acetone to rinse off the epoxy as workers move down the pipe.

Many of Larson's saguaros are delivered to carriers in Arizona and across the Southwest US, Elm trees are getting more popular in California; but generally, the West Coast prefers palms that feature fanned-out "fronds" concentrated at meleovo iphone xs max carbon premium leather case - black / red reviews the top of the trunk, and some have an additional bulbous adornment shaped like a pineapple that is attached just below, The eastern US orders the tallest trees, Compared with the 50- or 60-foot artificial pines in the West, eastern pines reach 100 to 150 feet, And for reasons unknown to Messing, Florida is partial to flagpoles..

Once in awhile, the company receives specialty orders, like an ornate lamp post for New Orleans' French Quarter. And recently, Pebble Beach, California, ordered trees that looked as if they'd been struck by lightning. Called a "snag pole," these lighter-colored structures have big trunks with thicker grooves and no leaves at all. On average, a disguise from Larson costs about $40,000, but can range anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000 for the towering premium pines. Because of the high price, carriers often join together to co-locate, meaning they'll share a site to split the costs.

For example, from top to bottom on a tall pine, "you got Sprint at the top, AT&T in the middle and Verizon at the bottom," says Christopher Brydon, Sprint's Area director for Northern California, "We've all got our limbs." meleovo iphone xs max carbon premium leather case - black / red reviews Cities encourage co-locating to reduce the total number of cell sites, and many of Larson's designs accommodate the practice, At the end of the day, Messing says, Larson builds to the needs of its clients, whether that means extra mounts for co-location or adding other design components, But it also won't hesitate to guide them away from anything too egregiously odd, like the time he talked a client out of requesting a two-headed palm tree..

"We'd rather not build something that we think is not going to be good for our industry," he says. "We will not do something that looks ridiculous."What's considered "ridiculous" or unacceptable, however, will always differ from one individual to the next. For Messing, it's a two-headed palm; for a city, it may be a piece of loose cabling; and for a country, it's an unlit flagpole. But because cell towers are so necessary in what they do, and their current technology restricts how they can look for now, no one can speak in absolutes. When keeping up a charade, compromises need to be made somewhere -- even if that means a humming pine tree in the middle of an open trail.